Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves as "saviors" in Christ's place before the Second Coming.[1] The term Antichrist (including one plural form)[2] is found four times in the New Testament, solely in the First and Second Epistle of John.[2] The Antichrist is announced as the one "who denies the Father and the Son."[2]
For other uses, see Antichrist (disambiguation).The similar term pseudokhristos or "false Christ" is also found in the Gospels.[3] In Matthew (chapter 24) and Mark (chapter 13), Jesus alerts his disciples not to be deceived by the false prophets, who will claim themselves to be the Christ, performing "great signs and wonders".[4][5][6] Three other images often associated with the Antichrist are the "little horn" in Daniel's final vision, the "man of sin" in Paul the Apostle's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, and the Beast of the Sea in the Book of Revelation.[7][8][9]
Etymology[edit]
Antichrist is translated from the combination of two ancient Greek words ἀντί + Χριστός (anti + Christos). In Greek, Χριστός means "anointed one" and the word Christ derives from it.[10] "Ἀντί" means not only anti in the sense of "against" and "opposite of", but also "in place of".[11][12]
Christian views[edit]
Roman Catholicism[edit]
From the Fifth Council of the Lateran, the Catholic Church teaches that priests may not "preach or declare a fixed time for...the coming of antichrist..."[101] The church also teaches that it must undergo trials before the Second Coming,[102] and that the church's ultimate trial will be the mystery of iniquity.[103] In Judaism, iniquity is a sin done out of moral failing.[104] The mystery of iniquity, according to the church, will be a religious deception: Christians receiving alleged solutions to their problems at the cost of apostasy.[103] The supreme religious deception, according to the church, will be the Antichrist's messianism: mankind glorifying himself rather than God and Jesus.[103] The church teaches that this supreme deception is committed by people who claim to fulfill Israel's messianic hopes, such as millenarianism and secular messianicism.[103]
Ginzberg, Louis (1901–1906). . In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
"Antichrist"
Lutheran Scholarly Works on the Antichrist
The dictionary definition of antichrist at Wiktionary
Quotations related to antichrist at Wikiquote
Media related to Antichrist at Wikimedia Commons